LAS VEGAS – With veteran slugger Robbie Lawler (18-8 MMA, 2-4 SF) struggling through a 2-4 stretch in his past six fights – a run largely contested against grappling-first opponents – you might think he’d welcome a bout with a fellow slugger as a sort of dream matchup.

Not the case.

While Lawler is complimentary of his “Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine” opponent, Adlan Amagov (9-1-1 MMA, 2-0 SF), he said it’s not an ideal booking. No, the perfect opponent would actually be a lot more defenseless.

“I would rather fight someone with no arms and no legs,” Lawler jokingly told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “That would probably be the best matchup for me.

“I would look amazing.”

While Lawler’s comment is obviously (hopefully) laced with sarcasm, it’s interesting to note that he’s not more piqued to fight someone who will likely trade in the pocket rather than drag him to the floor. Perhaps the near-11-year veteran (incredibly still just 29 years old) has a few new tricks up his sleeve.

“I’ve been around [MMA] for a while,” Lawler said. “I’m just trying to get better. I think that’s what everybody is trying to do – get better and try to evolve your game.

“I am learning new things. I’m getting stronger, getting faster. I’ve been around the game for a long time now. It’s almost just bringing out the things I’ve learned more than anything. The things I learned eight years ago, I just all of a sudden start to use and start to bring into my game.”

Lawler conducted his training camp in Davenport, Iowa, along with the help of Matt Pena and a host of less high-profile trainers whose names the veteran insists you probably wouldn’t know. He was winless in 2011 after dropping fights to Tim Kennedy and former Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. At just 1-3 in his past four bouts, Lawler would seem to be in desperate need of a victory, but the notoriously withdrawn slugger refuses to address any added pressure.

“I’m just going to go out there and try and beat people up and get after ’em,” Lawler said. “Try to learn from your mistakes and try to get better.”

Amagov is currently unbeaten in his past 10 fights, and he’s put on a pair of entertaining contests under the Strikeforce banner, but he’s certainly an unknown in comparison to Lawler. Still, Lawler said he’s not looking past the Russian import.

It’s a word that has often been used to describe Lawler during the course of a storied career that also includes stints in the UFC, PRIDE, EliteXC and the IFL.

But Lawler has endured a rough stretch in recent times and some of have questioned what he has left to offer.

Lawler intends to answer that on Saturday night, when he and Amagov meet on the main card of the Showtime-broadcast “Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine” event in Las Vegas. But what will drive Lawler as he steps into the cage? The desire to call himself champion? A will to prove the haters wrong?

A total of 26 fighters got their chance to shine on Saturday as part of UFC 190 at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena. Now that UFC 190 is in the books, it’s time to commence MMAjunkie’s “Three Stars” ceremony.

The man known for cranking submissions to the point of injury added eye-gouging to his repertoire. But is the controversy of Rousimar Palhares too essential to his bizarre, awful appeal for his employers to take any meaningful action against him?